GUWAHATI, Nov 18 - The emerging tourist and business destinations of the North-East can play a role in spurring the socio-economic development of this region as well as the country in general.
This view emerged during a webinar organised today by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) Guwahati on the topic �Assam as potential destination for industries and services to bolster growth and development�.
Experts from various sectors and government agencies, along with academicians deliberated and discussed about the market potential and its awareness from the socio-economic, academic and policy perspectives on the occasion.
Speaking about the Central government�s initiatives and its efficacy for public awareness, Shibasis Basu, Executive Director (Materials Management) of SAIL-IISCO Steel Plant, Burnpur, Paschim Bardhaman, said that emerging destinations of the North-East have tremendous potential for various sectors, including tourism, hospitality, culinary services, industry, hydel power, besides having entrepreneurial potential in agro-food, fruits and value-added secondary sectors of Assam and this region.
He said these have the potential to be engines of socio-economic growth and development of the North-East and that the resources of the region have the advantage of biodiversity and being environment-friendly.
Basu said that the region has tremendous opportunities for its marketability in sectors like hydel power, steel, coal and cement.
Satyabrata Banerjee, Chief Engineer (Civil) and Head of Department of Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), Maithon, said that learning from other regions of the country would provide the competitive advantage for industrial products and services sector in this region.
He said that with environment-friendly technologies, civil engineering constructions are dynamically improving and there are now environment-friendly processes for construction, capacity building and infrastructure development.
Banerjee added that Assam has huge potential in textile, culinary arts, eco-tourism, adventure tourism, and environment-friendly hydel power.
JP Shaw, former Regional Director (East) for IndiaTourism Kolkata, Ministry of Tourism, said that the huge potential in waterways, highways and railways could provide the momentum for the socio-economic development of the north-eastern region, including in the tourism sector, due to the advantage of biodiversity, rivers and water resources like the Brahmaputra. He said resource optimisation and technology efficacy is pivotal for business development.
Dr Kishor Goswami, Professor of Economics in Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kharagpur, said that competence of the tourist and business destinations of North East is the region�s strength and that it has to be strategically and optimally developed for capacity building. The webinar was planned and coordinated by Samrat Bandyopadhyay, Joint Director (Media and Communication) of PIB Guwahati.
